Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles. And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

Archive for September, 2006

My last day of Industrial Attachment was on 25 August. There was so much last minute work to be done; I left the office rather late.

I headed down to the Seminary for the vocation discernment recollection. I was very surprised to see some friends there, as well as some old faces. The turnout was quite good; about twenty something odd guys. I managed to learn some new things from the first year seminarians. For instance, I learnt the difference between the religious and secular, and clerical and lay. The diagram below is self explanatory.

I’m still trying to find out where I fit in best. I’m supposed to make use of my gifts. But the question is, what are my gifts? Charisms, to be more technical. I have to pray about this. The retreat was all right I guess. I guess I’ll just go down for their activities and be open to whatever comes.

On 30 August I went down to NUS for one of the talks conducted by the Department of Microbiology. My God, it was demoralising. I only understood the first ten minutes; enough understanding to take notes. After ten minutes, I was completely lost. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Initially I wanted to go explore the place a little, but it was quite intimidating. Good grief! Smart people! I’m outta here!

I took one long bus to Jurong after that and had lunch at the library there. I managed to polish off some of Goh Sin Tub’s books. I SMS-ed a certain acquaintance if she was free for tea or something, but she wasn’t. Then I remembered my holiday plan; visit all the churches in the West before school starts. I wanted to go to Holy Cross, but by the time I reached Clementi, it was too late, and it was raining! Bleargh!!

I ended up in Takashimaya’s Kinokuniya after that. And how surprising, that certain acquaintance ringed me up and she happened to be in town. Obviously the next logical step was to ask her to dinner, which I did. It was just some simple food court fare at City Hall, followed by a long drink at Starbucks. Approximately one hour later, she said that she was attached. Well done Bao Shin! The intelligence you provided me completely failed! But I wasn’t really affected much; I’m not really interested in such things for now. It was a pleasant evening, though.

On 2 September, the Legion visited the Assisi Home and Hospice. It was the first time in so many years that we conducted such an activity. It was quite eye-opening. Frankly, the excuse that there is no work to be done is quite lame. The inmates in there are waiting for people like us to go visit them. I remember one particular old man who eagerly questioned if we were coming back the following week. I gave him a half-hearted ‘Yes’. I hope he’s not too disappointed.

We brought along quite a number of kids, from OLPS praesidium. I hope that this event has further inspired them to their calling in the Legion. The turnout was quite all right, about twenty of us. On hindsight, we could have been better prepared. I wonder what went through the head of one comatose man while we warbled to him some poorly rehearsed songs. Communication was also a problem. The current young generation is extremely deficient in knowledge of the vernacular, namely Chinese Dialects. I am no exception. Fortunately I chose to stick closely to Marcus from Holy Trinity (He knows Hokkien =P ). While he was conversing with one old man, I could only smile weakly as I covered the man in his blanket. But it was a good experience, and we should organise another visit soon. In fact, we will be visiting an orphanage in December. I hope that one goes well.

What else have I been busy with? CCA, Legion, the usual…Oh yes, I was involved in the IMF meetings as a volunteer Bus Host. Basically, I welcome delegates on board the bus, which ferries them to various places. I managed to make some new friends amongst the volunteers, but I didn’t get to know any foreigners. Tsk, such a waste.

Geo Council had it’s annual International Coastal Cleanup on 16 September. The turnout was smaller than last year, but it was still great fun. The kids from the primary schools seemed to have enjoyed themselves.